


Midnight Marauders

by KDtheGhostwriter



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Deleted Scenes, Gen, I don't know how to tag this, Neither does the site, Post-Fight Conversation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-10
Updated: 2017-10-10
Packaged: 2019-01-15 15:37:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12323931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KDtheGhostwriter/pseuds/KDtheGhostwriter
Summary: Spider-Man has defeated The Vulture and saved the top secret Stark Industries shipment from being stolen. Peter wonders if Iron Man ever ended up like this after saving the day: face down with sand in places he didn't know existed.





	Midnight Marauders

“You’re a real piece of work, you know that?”

“Stop talking, please, Eddie.”

Peter Parker: High School Sophomore, isn’t even supposed to be here. He’s supposed to be at his school’s auditorium dancing with the girl of his dreams. Instead, he’s on Coney Island – the beach littered with the charred remains of Mr. Stark’s stealth plane – and there’s a supervillain less than a yard away from him.

A supervillain that happens to be the father of aforementioned girl. Some night.

Peter is on his seat and Toomes is flat on his back. They are both absolutely spent. If they were still expected to fight, he’s not sure either one could. But Peter saved the man’s life; no better stopping point than that, really.

His head is pounding. He might be concussed. Still: being concussed is better than being dead, which he almost was - several times tonight.

“So, what now, Hero?”

Peter doesn’t answer, looks towards Toomes and wordlessly loads up a ball of webbing that he shoots like a free throw onto his chest. The ball explodes into a mess of web that pins Toomes’ arms to his sides. He is captured, but looks far too annoyed with the young man to care.

“Really?”

“Web Grenade. Spider-Man original.”

“Gonna trademark that?”

“Maybe,” Peter says as he grabs the front of Vulture’s jacket. He never really thought of him as ‘The Vulture’ but that doesn’t mean he’s not a threat, so Peter decides to finish the job and make sure he won’t cause more trouble. He lifts the man onto his shoulders and walks toward the plane’s spilled cargo.

“Pretty strong for a string bean.”

“And you’re pretty heavy for an old guy. Maybe cut back the carbs a bit? Olive Garden is not your friend.”

“Oh, he’s still got jokes. You always do that when you’re scared?”

“Yeah, actually. It’s one of those things. Like kleptomania is for you.”

“Hey, I didn’t start out a thief, but it damn sure looks like you started out a spaz.”

Peter throws Toomes against the side of on the few unbroken crates with a bit more force than necessary and begins to web him to its side. He had plenty of webbing left, but he made sure to give the criminal a generous helping. Peter stepped back and left him to look down at his bindings and scoff.

“You done, kid?”

Peter answers by punching the older man square in the face. Not so hard; he had his spider strength to think about, but boy was he mad. Peter took responsibility for leaving the dance, but everything that happened that night was the Vulture’s fault for sure.

“Guess I had that comin’.”

“You were gonna leave me out there!”

“I told you to stay outta my way, Pete!”

“So, because I came after you, I deserved to get crushed to death?!”

Toomes growls as he looks down. It probably sounds way worse when put that way, but that was the point. “I knew the only way you’d stop-”

“Is if you stopped me, yeah I know! You don’t think I was in the same boat, or plane or whatever?”

“Why help a guy who can’t be bothered to do his own dirty work? Stark screwed me 8 years ago. He got paid by the city to clean up his own mess and put me out on the street! Me, my guys, our families, we were done, Pete! But the hell with us, I guess, as long as your hero gets to sleep well.”

Peter shakes his head as he turns to retrieve his scorched tote bag. For a guy who claimed to care so much for his family, he really didn’t get it, like, at all. Peter sits down a few feet in front of Toomes and pulls a stack of papers and a marker out of his bag. He begins to speak as he writes.

“No one could ever mistake Mr. Stark for being the best person, but he is a great hero. He saved all of us 8 years ago. And you weren’t just stealing from him tonight. Happy is my friend, too, and if you had stolen his plane, he probably would’ve lost _his_ job. But screw him, I guess, as long as you get to keep your DirecTV.”

Peter is scribbling furiously at this point. With how mad he is, and how high the adrenaline is pumping, it’s no small wonder the note is even legible. It’s brief with large, block letters: a note to Happy explaining what happened and apologizing for the destruction of the multi-million-dollar spy plane. He sticks the paper up near Toomes’ head and frowns at him before he turns to leave.

“Why’d you save me, kid?”

Peter stops walking and turns to look at Toomes, glowering.

“I tried to kill you - twice. You shoulda let me burn.”

Peter tosses his bag, sighs a bit too dramatically, and walks up to the trapped man to crouch to his level. He pokes his chest and asks, “How can someone so smart be such a dummy?”

“You sound like my wife.”

“Heroes don’t get to choose who we save. We save everyone we can. Everyone we’re able to. That’s our job. That’s why I’ve got the web shooters and you’re stuck to a box.”

Peter stands up, hands on his hips, and surveys the damage their fight caused. It’s minimal, and there’s no loss of life, so he can sleep soundly.

“It sucks what happened to ya, Eddie. Mr. Stark shouldn’t have done what he did. I’d like to think that if he knew what the circumstances were, he wouldn’t have…” Peter shrugs helplessly, at the situation and the thought he just had. “But who knows with that guy, right?”

Toomes smirks, nods his head. “Right.”

Peter frowns again. The dance is still going on. Would be well into the night. He could make it back to Midtown, change, and still have ample time to enjoy a good hour of dancing. Going back like this, though? Beat down and smelling like jet fuel? Way too many questions. Better to hoof it back to his apartment and take his lumps from May. Tell her the night ended in disaster, which wasn’t exactly a lie, was it?

“I’m really sorry for ditching your daughter, Mr. Toomes. I- She deserves better than what she got tonight.”

Peter, despondent, packs up his bag and begins to walk away, but is stopped cold by a whistle from behind him.

“Wherever my daughter ends up, I hope she finds someone like you. I mean that, Pete.”

Peter lets his mouth fall agape. He isn’t sure how take a compliment from a man who just minutes ago tried to kill him. He closes his mouth instead and gives Toomes a salute. It would be much cooler if he shot a web and swung up and away, but there are no tall structures around, so he begins the long walk to the rollercoaster.

Before his confrontation with the Vulture, he was just a kid from Queens who happened to have wicked Spider Powers. At best, he could be called an amateur hour investigator. Mr. Stark was right. It wasn’t the suit or Karen that made him a hero. It was the choice that he made every day to help the people that needed it most.

Peter’s choice on Homecoming Night cost him a lot, but it would have cost much more if he had done nothing. He had personal experience on that front. Even if he never got his suit back from Mr. Stark, Peter hoped Ben would have been proud of the choice he made.


End file.
